Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-01-25

taIiatioa Bill Passes the Senate, and
LawIer snuffs the Battle from Affair in
the House-Capital Gleanings.
WASHINGTON CRY, Jan 25-Thsro WAS
decidedly CORY tendency in some Of the
remarks male in the senate Mon
day when the bill authorizing tie
president 10 retaliate III kind on Cdnadl for
her interference with New England fishery
schooners was taken up, Ingalls, began by
saying that the matter must he ended by
diplomacy or war, and thought We should
take action looking 10 the settlement of the
questions at issue by commission; that this
retail measure was hardly consistent
with the gravity of the situation or the dig
nifty of the governments involved.
Frye said the purpose of Canada was to
force this country into reciprocal treaty,
which treaties had always turned to Cana
da's advantage and our disadvantage, and it
was only necessary that we should show
Canada that We could retaliate in kind This
would end the trouble and make Canada Will
ing to do what We desired He then charged
the Dominion with outrages against Ameri-
can fishermen that would be dis-racaful in
FIJI ISLANDERS. Particularizing many of the
outrages to which American fishing vessels
had been subjected, he declared that the
British government knew the utter
inhumanity of many OF these cases,
and knew that outrages had
been committed in violation of law, as well
as in violation of good neighborhood. The
senator quoted from a recent statute passed
by the Dominion government III still further
hostility to American fishermen, and claimed
that by its approval the British government
had blasted the hope that that government
would do what was just and fair in the
premises During the last 800 years Great
Britain had never permitted the right of an
other to stand in the way of her progress.
American people knew that they were CO.
GO 900 that they were the richest people
on earth; they knew their power, and would
not humiliate themselves aud do violence TO
their conscious pride by resorting Ia little,
miserable tricks and oQtrages by way Of re-
tahation The committee on foreign rela-
tionS sought simply that the president
of the United States should be en-
powered to close American ports against any
fishermen, or all fishermen, against any mer-
| chant vessel, or all merchant vessels. The
| queen of Great Britain could close British
ports against auy of the products Of the
whole world if she saw fit, and he saw no OBJ
lection to entrusting that power to the
president This law, he said, had the power
in it. He believed that the president had at
hear; the honor and dignity OF the great re
| public over which he presided He believed
| that the president was in favor of protecting
the rights of every American citizen. Aye,
more, he believed he was an honest
man. and that if this law were passed, the
power which it would put into his hands
would be used for the protection eff Amer
| lean rights.
| Ingalls, again took the floor and said he
| understood the senator from Maine to say
| these transactions had preceded to the very
| frontier of amicable solution He then asked
| Edmun is whether he wanted this bill to settle
| the trouble by 4 negotiation or by fight
Eimunds said by neither. and went on to
explain that under the bill the president of
| the United States may--lf our vessels are
| mistreatei in Canadian portS-say that
| Canadian fish and Canadian fishermen shall
not come into the waters of the United
States Suppose said EdmundS, ''the
| president saws that they shall moi come. that
Is not war Suppose that continues ten
wears, the question Will be who can stand it
best 1t would simply be question of non
| intercourse between the United States AID
the British provinces, and who could stand it
| longest, and there was Only one answer to
that question. The question here, Eimunds
| insisted, was not a question Of war, but a
| question of countervailing regulations which
| all nations have resorted TO long before war,
| and which usually never come TO war.
IL 4 I
| uiunds' explanation, aud went on balaboring
| England for having always been the ruffian
and coward Her history for centuries had
been a record of crime against the human
race. IN Ireland, IN Scotland, in Wales,
against the Roman Catholics, against the
Beers of South Africa. against the Hindols
and Chinese. Wherever there has been a
| feeble, weak or helpless nation, Great Britain
had been there for purposes Of rapacity and
4 plumber Her ruling classes were UnfrIen1lv
to this country. The memory OF two defeats
ranked in the breasts of Englishmen- EGG
land cheated the south with false hopes OF
| recognition and injured the north by viola
tons Of neutrality. There were few AmerI-
cans who do not regret Waterloo, and for
his part, in concluding, be said he WAS glai
to hear Of the Interpretation placed on the
proposed legislation by the senator from
| Maine [Fryel that so far as he is concerned,
| it is to be a declaration to Great Britain
| recognizing her agency and her power in
the matter that she viii persist further al
her peril
Hoar followed in support of the bill He
regarded the attempt by Canada by hostile
in. difference with our ships on the high seas,
or in the neighborhood of their ports, or il
their ports, to enforce upon US against our
| viii, certain policy. as being one Of the
most emphatic and fragrant acts Of hostility
that can be committed without actual war.
| These seizures-with the exception OF per
| hans one or two instances-are seizures npon
a pretense, without the reality Of any inter
ference either with the treaty or with local
regulation or law by the American vessels
| He did not understand the object Of this bin
| to h. to bring shout war or new diplomacy
| or negotiation We simply say to the do
| minion Of Canada that 50 far from acromp-
ishing anything in the way Of diminution of
cur customs duties, you shall not be per-
| mitted TO sell your fish or any other product
If the offending district IN the American
markets at all And the only answer to this
which is to be expected, or which can be ex-
| pected, said Hoar, is communication from
| Great Britain that she has given orders that
these offensive proceedings shall stop He
| thought it high time that the bill was passed
Morgan oppossd.-the measure and Evarts
| and Hale advocated il
Vest aid he would vote for the bill be
cause it contained provision that the presi-
dent should have discretionary power in the
matter and he would not vot4 for it as a
mandatory bill 1t was well enough to talk
in rhetorical style about war with Great
| Britain When they came to the matter of
military resources, there were some things
| which had better be said in secret session
The world in arms coul1 not conquer the
United States on her own soil-not five such
a world in-arTns- The people of the United
States were invincible in any such struggle
as that: hut in a maritime war. who could
answer for the resultl Who wanted to run
the risk of throwing down the gage of battle
IN any such contestt Who wanted to invits
L. -.